My homemade ice cream gives homemade a bad name.

April 22, 2008 12:56 PM

A big problem and a small problem with my home made ice cream ...

I need some tips and pointers on home made ice cream. Specifically, I've had inconsistent results across two dimensions - clumping, or the creaminess (more properly lack of) of my ice cream, and layering of fruit.

After much trial and error, I've settled into this basic recipe:

• 6 egg yolks
• 3 cups single cream
• 1 cup sugar (granulated)
• 3 tablespoons vanilla extract
• Juice from a small lemon (fresh squeezed)

As we can get reasonably priced Spanish strawberries this time of year, my most recent attempts have me using 400g (maybe one half a quart) of the fruit. I puree about half, and split the remaining strawberries down the middle, but will cut again if necessary to render all pieces no larger than 1/2".

Over low heat, I whisk the egg yolks, ten tablespoons of the cream together than add sugar, vanilla and lemon juice. I continue whisking until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, all the while careful to keep the heat in check (i.e., avoid boiling). I try to let this cook for about ten minutes or so.

At this point I then add the remaining cream and strawberry puree, and continue whisking until the mixture thickens significantly. Then I add the remaining strawberry slices.

I freeze in a stainless steel bowl for between two to three hours (this part of the recipe is still changing) and we then consume immediately.

Here are my problems:

• Big problem - The ice cream is very inconsistent in terms of thickness; sometimes almost soupy, other times it thickens up too much. Is this normal for homemade ice cream? The variance in batches is frustrating me somewhat (Mrs Mutant is a champ, and never complains!) as I'd like to at least have a repeatable process.
• Small problem - Fruit - it all seems to end up on the bottom, at least the pieces. Is this just the nature of the product? I can't seem, for the life of me, to get uniform distribution. I've tried freezing the mix for a period of time then adding the heavier pieces, but still I end up with most - if not all - of the fruit chunks on the bottom of the ice cream. What are you folks doing to get a uniform distribution? I've tried mixing after freezing but before serving, but sometimes its difficult to even spoon out, let alone mix (see 'Big Problem' above).

I'm using this recipe each time as I'm trying to get a standard product. I'm eager to add flavours to my repertoire, but seems I'm having difficulties with the basics.

Any tips or suggestions welcomed. Willing to change recipes as well.

Thanks for your help!

posted by Mutant to food & drink (25 comments total)

The consistency problems are because you're not freezing in an ice cream maker. The blending and freezing that an ice cream maker does evens the consistency. Fruit is stirred into the soft frozen ice cream post freeze/blend, so that it doesn't sink.
posted by oneirodynia at 1:03 PM on April 22, 2008

You could try taking it out of the freezer every little while and stir again with a very stiff whisk, I suppose. That would probably help with fruit distribution.
posted by oneirodynia at 1:05 PM on April 22, 2008

I have always made ice cream by churning the (uncooked) ingredients in one of those tubs with a crank on top, surrounded by ice and salt. That gives a fairly consistent result, because you can feel the texture changing as the ice cream solidifies. What you are describing seems more like a frozen custard; since it sits still and freezing takes hours, gravity will always make the fruit settle.

So I would suggest that your ingredients are ok, but your technique is not (at least in terms of how I understand ice cream in the US).
posted by Forktine at 1:09 PM on April 22, 2008

Here is the kind of hand-powered machine I use; electrically-powered machines are more common these days. Here is a basic explanation of the scientific processes involved (and directions for making ice cream in plastic bags, no machine needed).
posted by Forktine at 1:13 PM on April 22, 2008

You really can't make good ice cream without churning it. You can make something, sure, and it'll taste just fine, but it won't have the texture of ice cream. Get yourself a churn of some sort--I don't know if it's available in the UK, but Cuisinart makes a great one that's quite cheap, the ICE-20, and no ice-salt mess. This will--barring complete disaster--solve your textural problems. (And make some caramel ice cream while you're at it. A generous cup of sugar, caramelized til just getting dark, two cups cream, one cup milk, maybe a teaspoon or so of salt. Play with the dairy proportions til you get it how you like it. I like more milk, less cream, and the caramel fairly far along.)
posted by uncleozzy at 1:14 PM on April 22, 2008 [1 favorite]

You should definitely be using an ice cream maker of some kind or another. Any solid add-ons (fruit, chocolate chips, cookie dough or whatever) to ice-cream should be added at very nearly the end of the freezing process. Some of the mid-priced electric ice cream makers on the market retail for under $100.00 (US) and get the job done fairly consistently in about half an hour with an additional couple of hours in the freezer after churning to set.
posted by wabbittwax at 1:16 PM on April 22, 2008

you could take your mixture and pour it in a thin layer on a baking sheet and freeze that, then you could scrape up the result and you'd have something pretty cool, though not exactly ice cream.
posted by wabbittwax at 1:18 PM on April 22, 2008

It's all about the folding.
posted by brautigan at 1:18 PM on April 22, 2008

Yeah, you definitely need to churn it. Ice cream machines are pretty affordable, especially if you're into this kinda thing. The churn should solve both of your problems.
posted by misanthropicsarah at 1:18 PM on April 22, 2008

The Cuisinart one has served us well. I bought ours at Sams and it came with an extra insert for $40.

As far as the fruit goes, wait until the mixture has thickened/frozen a bit before adding. Even if you're using an electric mixer.
posted by Atom12 at 1:19 PM on April 22, 2008

You didn't ask for a book, but I am providing you one anyway. This is the most comprehensive and most helpful book I have ever owned with respect to all kinds of frozen desserts, as well as for bombes, which sounds more like what you're doing.

Google books: Frozen Desserts: The Definitive Guide to Making Ice Creams, Ices, Sorbets, Gelati and Other Frozen Delights

You do need a churner of some sort, or you need to regularly stir your ice cream as it freezes.

Anyway, I heartily recommend this book. Good eatin's! And good luck.
posted by kalessin at 1:23 PM on April 22, 2008 [1 favorite]

If by off chance you already have a Kitchenaid mixer, I recommend the ice cream attachment for it. That's what I use, and I haven't had the problems you mention.
posted by inigo2 at 1:25 PM on April 22, 2008

Everyone I know who's tried it says liquid nitrogen ice cream is the best. If you are in a city of significant size, you will probably be able to rent a dewar full of it (with a deposit for the flask, of course) for a relatively modest fee.

Thanks for the basic recipe; I'll be giving it a try in my electric churn.
posted by jamjam at 1:35 PM on April 22, 2008 [1 favorite]

Somehow you have to mix things to get the texture right. The hand-crank ice cream makers and the mechanical ones listed above will work. Personally I've always put things that I want in chunks in later; that way the mixing action doesn't mush the strawberries you wanted solid!

Note you can also get a version for portability and then there's always the fun way. (On the last one, mix the strawberries in later, otherwise you'll have rocks. And I wouldn't suggest lN2 as a frequent solution, it's very hard to get the texture right, but as the air boils off it does mix better than just "leave it in a freezer" will).

I also think that kitchenaid makes a bowl that you freeze ahead of time and attaches to their mixers to make ice cream in; if you have an electronic mixer already, you might see if that brand has some sort of official ice cream maker to go with.
posted by nat at 1:38 PM on April 22, 2008

You're not making ice cream, you're making parfait.

Ice cream needs to have air incorporated into it during the freezing process. Add the fruit once the cream starts to thicken, and it will be distributed evenly throughout.

I'd also recommend adding some milk to the recipe instead of going with pure cream. I find that it improves the texture and makes it less overwhelmingly rich. Somewhere between a 2/1 and 3/1 cream/milk ratio usually works for me.
posted by mr_roboto at 1:49 PM on April 22, 2008

Read every entry here:
http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/ice_cream_tips/

Especially:
• Making Ice Cream Without a Machine
• Tips for Making Homemade Ice Cream Softer
posted by jbrjake at 1:49 PM on April 22, 2008 [2 favorites]

I use this non-electrical, portable maker on camping trips and it works quite well, even with fruit and other solid additions.
posted by luriete at 1:52 PM on April 22, 2008

Ice cream machine helps, as others have noted. Also, I believe that you would be much better off folding in the fruit puree and particularly the lemon juice as the very last thing that you do before freezing. Ideally your ice cream will hold some air, and the acid in the fruit will work against this. Personally, when I've made a strawberry ice cream, it has been more or less equal parts fresh made custard (eggs, cream, sugar, vanilla), pureed strawberries with a little lemon juice added (test for acidity balance) and whipped cream, all folded together at the last moment and churned in an ice cream maker.

BTW, making the custard becomes a lot easier with the use of an accurate thermometer. It will always start to thicken at the same temperature, so you can get it off the heat promptly to avoid curdling. This is a good way to get a consistent result early on. You can also rescue a slightly curdled product by quickly dunking the pan in a sink of ice water and whisking like crazy - it should rehomogenise.

If you do opt for an ice cream maker, it's very important to do two things:
1. Don't try to churn more than it's recommended max capacity (it won't freeze properly)
2. Make sure all ingredients are fridge-cold before churning (again, it won't freeze properly)
posted by bifter at 2:18 PM on April 22, 2008

It sounds like the main problem here is the lack of churning, but I wanted to comment that your custard process may be a little turned around. The method I use, which I understand to be the traditional technique, is to temper the eggs with the heated milk. First I heat 2 cups of milk and 1 and a half cups of cream to near boiling (small bubbles forming at the edge of the pot). Then I whisk the sugar, eggs and half a cup of cream together until smooth. Then, I slowly stream about half of the hot milk mixture into the egg mixture, while constantly whisking. You want to have a fairly fine stream. The idea is to heat the eggs slowly and consistently while adding the milk. Once I have about half of the milk mixture tempered into the eggs, I reverse the process back into the pot with the heated milk. I stream the mixture back into the pot, constantly whisking and then put the flame back on to medium-low. At this point I cook the custard until it coats the back of the spoon. It seems you are getting the eggs cooked to the desired consistency and are then watering it down by adding the fresh cream. Because the eggs can cook and coagulate if the tempering takes place too fast, or just simply cook onto the bottom of the pan; I strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve. Skipping this step may account for some of the reported clumpiness. Finally, adding lemon juice to boiled milk is a great way to make fresh cheese, but you don't want curds in your ice cream. You may want to try skipping the lemon juice for a batch, although straining the custard should catch any curds if you are getting them.
posted by iloveit at 2:29 PM on April 22, 2008

Ditto the ice cream maker, and also reading everything David Lebovitz has written on ice cream. I have his "bible" - The Perfect Scoop - and it's been a godsend. My girlfriends have been cursing their waistlines since I bought this book, but my family's lovin' it. ;)
posted by twiki at 2:55 PM on April 22, 2008

This is basically the way that I make ice cream for the restaurant where I work. Scalding the cream and using a thermometer gives the most consistent results of anything that I have tried.

1) Scald the cream - heat the cream until tiny bubbles form on the edge of the pot and let cool. If you scald the cream you can leave the lemon juice out of your recipe and get a better flavor.

2) Whip your egg yolks and sugar together until they are light and fluffy.

3) Whisk the cool cream into the egg yolk and cream mixture. Add your flavorings to the mix unless it is something like chocolate which you need to melt into the mix.

4) Slowly heat the cream mix. Egg yolks thicken between 153 and 156 degrees. Over 156 degrees the eggs start to curd up and below 153 degrees they will not thicken properly. You may have to adjust the temps for altitude.

5) Churn the mix. Churning adds air to the cream mix giving it better texture and flavor.
posted by calumet43 at 5:06 PM on April 22, 2008 [1 favorite]

You could always make your ice cream in a coffee can.
posted by aetg at 6:10 PM on April 22, 2008

You say that you consume it immediately; for best results it is essential to ripen the ice cream; that is, let it sit in the freezer for a couple of hours. Here is a good article on ice cream making that talks about ripening towards the end.

If you want to avoid using a churn but still want to take advantage of fresh strawberries, a granita is easy to make and tastes wonderful; I made a batch Sunday that is almost gone. There are variations that include mascarpone or whipped cream if you want to keep some dairy in the mix.

Finally, it is worth noting that by adding eggs and cooking the mixture, you are not making ice cream, but frozen custard (AKA "French Vanilla"). [/non-quiescently frozen pedant]
posted by TedW at 7:43 PM on April 22, 2008 [1 favorite]

Finally, it is worth noting that by adding eggs and cooking the mixture, you are not making ice cream, but frozen custard

Disagree - if you're using US grocery terminology, perhaps. But you guys didn't invent the stuff y'know. :D

Most of the "ice cream" / "creme glace" you would be served in a high-end restaurant would be simply frozen, churned custard (see Raymond Blanc's Manoir Aux Quat'Saison cookbook for example); served in very small portions, natch. This formula is absolutely perfect - unbelievably good - for some types of ice cream (particularly plain vanilla, or ones based on alcohol eg prune and armagnac), but not so great for flavours based on fresh fruit.
posted by bifter at 2:19 AM on April 23, 2008

Gosh many thanks folks! Lots of good advise here and some really great references to perfect the craft.

Never thought about churning; (like most of my mistakes) blindingly obvious in retrospect, I'm doing a little price comparison now and will purchase one in the next week or so.

I got lost in the linked references last night, and can't believe that someone had made garlic - let alone basil - flavoured ice cream! Absolutely amazing!! Always associated ice cream with desert, I had never realised this was such a versatile food. This AskMeFi is certainly gonna liven up our meals.

I look forward to trying those two and many others once I've gotten the basic into a more stable form.
posted by Mutant at 9:59 AM on April 23, 2008